Syrian President Bashar al-Assad offered Russian President Vladimir Putin his support in the Ukraine conflict during a visit to Moscow on Wednesday. The meeting between the two leaders in Moscow came as thousands of Syrians demonstrated in rebel-held northwestern Syria to mark 12 years since the start of pro-democracy protests in 2011, which the Assad regime brutally crushed with Russian help.
In a televised meeting with Putin in the Kremlin, Assad said Russia was fighting neo-Nazis and "old Nazis" in Ukraine, according to a Russian translation.
Without offering evidence, Assad said the West had taken in "old Nazis", and was now supporting them.
Kyiv and the West say Russian accusations that Ukraine has become a hotbed of Nazism are a baseless pretext for an unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine.
Welcoming Assad at the start of the meeting that came on the anniversary of Syria’s 12-year uprising-turned-civil war, Putin emphasised the Russian military's “decisive contribution” to stabilising the country.
Assad thanked Putin for backing Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, noting that the Kremlin's support has remained strong despite the fighting in Ukraine.
“Even though Russia now is also conducting the special operation, its position has remained unchanged," Assad said, using the Kremlin's “special military operation” term for the war in Ukraine.
Moscow has provided robust political support to Assad at the UN and actively mediated to help repair his government's ties with regional powers. Russia's military support for Assad also helped him to turn the tide in a civil war that began in 2011 as a pro-democracy movement.
Syrians in rebel-held area mark Arab Spring anniversary
The meeting between Assad and Putin in Moscow came as thousands of Syrians demonstrated in the war-ravaged country's rebel-held northwest on Wednesday, marking 12 years since the start of pro-democracy protests and rejecting any international "normalisation" with Damascus.
The brutal repression of the 2011 protests, which began during the Arab Spring uprisings, triggered a bloody and complex civil war that has claimed more than 500,000 lives and left millions displaced.
In Idlib city, demonstrators waved revolutionary flags and held banners reading: "The people demand the fall of the regime" and "Freedom and dignity for all Syrians".
The Idlib area is the last major rebel bastion outside the control of Assad's Russia-backed forces.
The rebel-held areas of Syria's north and northwest, controlled by Islamist groups and Turkish-backed fighters, are home to more than 4 million inhabitants, at least half of whom have been displaced from other parts of the country.
Disaster struck the region again last month, when devastating quakes hit Syria and Turkey, killing almost 6,000 people across Syria.
Russia attempts to mend Syria-Turkey ties
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier told reporters the talks would focus on bilateral ties but said "Turkey-Syria relations will certainly be touched upon in one way or another".
Syria's 2011 civil war strained relations between Damascus and Ankara, which has long supported rebel groups opposed to Assad.
Turkey severed diplomatic ties with Syria soon after the war began.
Analysts say Moscow now wants to bridge the divide between the two countries that see a common "enemy" in Kurdish groups in northern Syria, described as "terrorists" by Ankara and backed by Washington.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated he could meet with Assad, and their defence ministers met in Moscow in December, in the first such talks since the Syrian war began.
Diplomats from Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran are due to meet in Moscow this week to pave the way for a foreign ministers' meeting, according to Turkish media.
Complex questions need to be resolved, however, particularly around the presence of Turkish troops in northern Syria.
Assad's government has been politically isolated since the start of the war, but he has been receiving calls and aid from Arab leaders after the February earthquake.
International sympathy following the quake appeared to have sped up the regional rapprochement, with some calling for dialogue with Syria and for bringing the country back to the 22-member Arab League more than a decade after its membership was suspended over the crackdown in the early months of the uprising that turned into war.
As part of the ongoing rapprochement, the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan recently made their first visit to Damascus since the conflict began in March 2011 and met with Assad.
On Wednesday, Assad also thanked Putin for sending rescue teams and engaging its military based in Syria to conduct salvage efforts and help deal with the quake's aftermath.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
